The Cherry Blossom Among Despair
by CherryBlossomWish
Summary: Karin has turned everyone against Sakura, so Sakura leaves Konoha- but just after Karin confesses, instantly every one regrets what they did to Sakura- what's going to happen when they find out that their mistakes leads Sakura to the Akatsuki? OOC, Karin Bashing.
1. Leaving

SAKURA'S POV

The sky was a dark navy blue, it looked like the color of the deep depths of the sea. The stars shining in the sky revealed the milkyway, just paths of glimmering stars, it was beautiful. Usually, I'd be sitting on my porch and drinking some apple tea while I observed the show in the sky, but not tonight. Tonight they had a job to do, to guide me away.

Away from Konoha.

Rustling leaves shielded the sound of my shivery breaths, I was trying to stay contained, to not burst out in tears, to not scream hateful words at the towering village- it was hard. I wanted to do it, to destroy the place that caused so many tears.

The path, the dirt road, it was empty. No one was travelling at this time at night. Well morning. The morning was early, extremely early. Did I want to go?

A fresh gust of wind swept around me, it blew my hair gently to the side, kissing my cheek. The gate above me was displaying the same large words of 'Konohagakure', welcoming newcomers. I wish it was welcoming me, but that wasn't going to happen.

"Sakura..." Someone uttered my name. I froze.

_**Shit. **_

Slowly, I turned around, my backpack slipping from my instantly sweaty hands to the ground. It went down with a dull thud. "S-Sasuke?" I stammered nervously.

Yeah, there he was. Handsome face, hot bod, it was all there. His stoic face was tilted to the side slightly, looking at me intently. "What are you doing here?" I tried to sound like I wasn't running away, I was trying to sound as if this wasn't the last time I'd see him. But the thought hurt me- it was a pang in the heart. I wish I could bring him with me.

"Taking a walk." He muttered quietly. An Awkward silence enveloped us. I knew what question was coming up- "What are you doing?" He asked- I flinched. Before I cuold answer, he interrupted me. "By the look of that bag, you facing the gate of Konoha, and those tears, it seems your leaving us all."

I tried not to look shocked or surprised at his intelligence. It was stupid to do so- it was stupid to think he'd be clueless at me. He's too smart to fool. Maybe Naruto would be easy to fool, but not Sasuke. Not the man I used to love and admire.

"You shouldn't be here." I muttered darkly.

He smirked his usual smirk and walked a few steps forward. Only a few steps kept us seperated. "You know, I remember this scene happening a few years ago- only the other way around." He bent down so his face would reach my level. His silky voice was laced with intrigue, a few other emotions were hidden in there, I couldn't pick them out though.

Sasuke, I began to tear up again, big blotchy tears gathering. Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke! I wanted to hug him, I wanted him as my family, my brother. I wish he could protect me forever- but that was why I had to leave. I, first of all, should not need protecting, especially from my own village, and I shouldn't get protection from my friends. I needed to get stronger... Sasuke couldn't come. He had a life to live.

So did I.

"I don't think I'll need to knock you out though." I replied spitefully, trying to push him away. "I don't care if everyone finds out- it's not like they'll care." I casted a glare at the building where the Hokage was sleeping peacefully. Damm her... Another wave of grief blasted into me, like a crashing wave.

"But I'll care." Sasuke said with a small voice. "Neji will, Shizune will. Kurenai will." I knew it was hard for him to recall anyone who would miss me. Those three, Sasuke excluded, might miss me, but they may not. With everyone who bullied me, hated me, attacked me, they'd make those three hate me, think of me as wasted time.

I care that they'd learn to hate me, but all I brought was sadness to them, they deserved it, they deserved to find peace in hating me.

"Don't leave." He muttered after a while of my silence.

It pained me. I've always wanted to hear those words, to know he cared just a bit more than an honorable ninja would. But that was long ago. Times have changed. I know I'm not the same small girl who tried to depend on romance and friendship to survive. I'm a sixteen year old Kunoichi whom knows the horror of ... of... hatred.

"I have to." I wanted so much to lean forward and kiss him, his perfect face, but I held myself back. "Good bye." I simple said before bursting in to stupid tears and wrapping my arms around his neck. I began to sob, hugging him tightly and trying to be as quiet as a mouse. I managed it. He hugged me tightly as well.

I wanted to stay there. But I was wasting good running time. I released him quite suddenly, giving him a sad smile. "I've got to go." I kissed his cheek, "Tell Shizune goodbye." I turned around, and without giving a second thought to it, commanded my feet to race forward outside the gate- and I felt free. Lost, but free.

Running was the thing I focused on first, I focused hard, watching my pathway. I didn't want to suddenly turn around, screaming for Sasuke and for help, crying and crying like I used to. I had to do this! I had to. Turning around would be weak. I wasn't weak. was I?

Within an hour I was sweating, covering miles away from the village, miles and miles. Chakra was helping my efforts. Even if I was far enough for a break, I still felt as if eyes were on me, as if the villagers, even the weakest, could see me and laugh at me. I couldn't stop for a drink.

Where was I going to go? I have no idea. I was trying to plan it while it went.

Maybe I'd become a rogue ninja, training with outlaws. Maybe I could be a Robin Hood person- this resession on the economy was effecting people, maybe I could help. As long as I was useful.

Tears gathered again- everything was reminding me of Konoha. the leaves. The ground. The stars. The rocks. The whistling sound of the wind. Konoha. Konoha. Konoha.

Naruto. Ino. Karin. Shikamaru. shino. Hinata. They all came to mind- everyone in the village. From Tsunade to Kakashi to the old man selling fresh fruit by my street. They were all the reasons of my misery.

It all... began... with her. Karin. Karin. Karin- I HATE HER! My fists clenched, my rising fury was causing chakra to build up by my feet, my toes pushing against the floor more and more, pounding into the dirt, making my leather sandals weaker and weaker.

She began it all. Sasuke brought her to Konoha- along with Juugo and Suigetsu. Those two were fine.

anyways...

My mind began to replay the memories.

It all began when I was fourteen, I became a chunin, I was popular, I was beginning my medical and Kunoichi career. Tsunade and I were having training sessions almost every day of the week, Ino and I were always going shopping- Naruto and I were at the height of our friendship. Everything was so great...

'_"Ne, Sakura!" Called Ino cheerfully from behind. _

_"Yeah?" _

_"Let's go shopping- MANGO is having a sale tomorrow!" She squealed gleefully. _'

'_Naruto smiled at me kindly, handing me the last Anko dumpling. "Here." He gave me his dazzling grin as I giggled._'

'_"Sakura, don't forget our session tomorrow- we'll have fun." Tsunade gave me a wolfish grin. I gave a playful groan. Obviously she meant 'She'd be drinking while I be working.'. I didn't mind. It was hard work, but I enjoyed it._'

Those wre good times.

It was a joyous day in Konoha, I was excited beyond anything. Two and a half years had passed since Sasuke left, and this was the day he returned. Well, the day Naruto caught him and his companions and forced him to come back. Sasuke came back kicking and screaming. the ones known as Suigetsu and Karin just soaked up the attention like freaking superstars. I was very optimistic of meeting them- to reconnect with Sasuke.

For a month, Sasuke and his group were imprisoned, interrogated, put on trial. Karin was cool. I guess. I liked Juugo very much. I interrogated him mostly, he needed help, I was patient with him, and he was just as kind. He was so ... different. I gave thumbs up for Tsunade to release him- so she did. Shikamaru interrogated Suigetsu, and within days, he was also released, free of charge. Karin was released almost instantly, she was trsted. Sasuke took a while to release- he was told and told and told what happened, that Itachi was a puppet.

Sasuke was angry with his brother, still, but he was better. He bonded with us after a while, he shut those horried memories away.

He told me that Karin was not to be trusted- But I didn't believe him. No one did, they laughed at him. But... I was stupid to ignore him.

Chakra burned inside of me, racing to my feet and creating faster speed, my feet were carrying me far away. Distance between myself and that GodForsaken village was widening- I felt like a bird escaping from a striking dog, like a fleeing cat from a poison bomb. The hope to change my life, to start over, to do anything, it was strong within me.

How did it start? I didn't need to ask myself that, I remembered it all. Every detail. How could I forget? My face darkened. It was the beginning of my hell. Hell! It was worse than hell- there was no hope, no... no freedom. Hell has salvation, you can repent, you can ... you can escape! Where I was, there was no salvation. Even those who supported me weren't there to stop the bullying and hatred I had to endure, their support wavered after a while- I don't blame them for giving up.

Even now, running from that awful place, I can hear those voices, cursing me, screaming at me, spitting and hissing in my face. Those screams will never leave me, the heartwrenching betrayal. Nothing can stop it from growing, it felt like a cancer, growing inside of me, killing my hope.

Anyways.. That night. Oh, how it made me feel sick, like a bowling ball had just fallen into my stomach.

One night, we got in a sticky situation, I finished training, depleted of any chakra, and twisted my ankle. He happened to be walking by, and offered to carry me home. Well, if you call 'hn. where do you live?' an offer, then... yes, it was an offer. He thrust me in his arms, and I more than once was tempted to kiss his neck, but restrained myself. We went by the park, several people kept exclaiming what a nice couple we made, Sasuke lost his footing and slipped, we accidently kissed.

Karin saw. At first, I thought. 'oh, whoops.'. I didn't know that now it was the biggest mistake of my life. She, of course, reacted badly. She turned as red as her hair, puffed her cheeks out like the pig she was, and stormed away. Sasuke didn't care, he turned a litle red, but he passed it off. So did I. I didn't pay mind to it. I was dropped off at home, I fell asleep. I was ignorant towards what was spreading around.

If only I'd fucking explained that it was an accident- if only I hadn't trained so hard, so I had enough chakra to eal myself! I HATE MYSELF! The shrieking abuse inside of me was loud- I wanted to explode at how a simple thing ruined it all.

When I awoke I was rung up by Ino who started insulting me. '_You bitch! You whore! You slutty little pink haired animal!'_ She hung up before I could ask for any information.

That day, Naruto confronted me and started yelling at me, '_Man, I thought you were better then that- Sakura you're cruel!'_ I was confused. Ten Ten confronted me.

Word was that I'd kissed Sasuke, forced him to kiss me, and then attacked Karin.

But Of course I didn't do it, no one believed me though, except for precious few. Sasuke knew I didn't do it- he tried telling people, but they just said he was lying and was possible embarassed about being forced to do such a thing by a girl.

I felt so betrayed that people didn't believe me. That moment was just the beginning of Karin's mission to ruin my life, she took over Konoha (Not literally) and took my friends away. It was firstly Naruto, then Hinata, then everyone else.

Whipping and howling wind woke me up, and just in good time. I tried not to scream, but I did manage a small whimper, as a tree got closer and closer- my chakra was going out of control as emotions began to jump into a rampant hurricane, twisting inside of my being, controlling the power within. I couldn't stop- O braced myself. "Shit!"

The collision was immediate. The splintering hard wood shattered around me, tumbling forward just as I was. A burning sensation began to flourish in my knee, as did another ache in my heart. Shattering wood broke like my heart- blood spilled like my tears. The roar of the wood breaking apart tore into the air, just like my screams of agony.

_**Damn tree**_! I wanted to shriek.

The ground was hard, I slammed into it, the tree trunk rolling away from me and down a slope- a large 'CRASH' echoed through my ringing ears, the trunk had hit another tree, though it only bumped off of it and laid still. Oh god.

Soil, moss and bugs were in my mouth. Something gooey and warm was spreading by my knee, most likely blood. I was too afraid to look at the wounds that had marred my skin, to see how much Chakra I had to waste on myself.

A few minutes passed, I was passing in and out of concsiousness. I wanted to stay awake, so I could stay alive, but I was afraid. What if something found me while I was alive? What if The... Oh, god forbid, the Akatsuki found me? They'd torture me for information- they'd make death sound like a pleasure.

I was lying face down, my nose breathing in dirt- it was disgusting- I wanted to get up, but I couldn't. I was too weak. Too weak to even try and hear anything, too weak to flip myself around and gaze into the starry night and pray. All I could do was worry, all I could do was breathe and taste that dirt, to feel the blood seeping away from me.

'How did my life turn out so bad?' my mind cried. 'Why live? Why survive in a world that despises your very existence? This world has betrayed me! I should just die...' Even in my mind, my voice sounded tired, weary, teary and distressed. In my mind, I felt like nothing.

'_**Come on, Come on- we've got to live. Stuff and screw Konoha, they deserve nothing. We're better! They don't know what they're missing!-**_' Inner, who had stayed silent for months now, decided to perk up into my mind.

'What are they missing, Inner? What? I'm nothing!'

'_**T-They're ... They're... Missing... a...**__'_ Inner began to falter. Exactly, I wanted to scream at her. I wish she was a human, I wish I could attack her, I wish I could vent my anger out on her- I wish I didn't feel so crazy...! Inner began to shout in anger; '_**Oh, they're missing a wonderful medic nin who's beginning to flower! They're missing a loyal friend-**_'

'THEY'RE MISSING A COWARD!' My mind shouted in misery. It was the truth- Inner knew it, she made no attempt to argue. I was a coward. It took a moment for me to realise I cried it out loud. My echoing cry was the only thing heard, ringing in my ears, there was no little buzz of bugs or hum from animal life, just my scream.

How had this happened? How had one stupid fat woman ruined everything?

...I feel so tired. Whenever I moaned, I had to remind myself that it was going to do nothing- but then who was going to complain? No one could hear me cry or scream! I couldn't move. But I had...

I had to...

Oh no- I was falling asleep. I was losing too much blood. I began to cry, loudly, screaming in agony as I attempted to shift my body. It hurts! It hurts! Help me! someone!

NO! NO! _**STOP IT! STOP CRYING!**_ Exactly as I thought, no one would hear me. I had to stop crying, to stop expecting rescue. I had no one to depend on now. That was what I had to remember from now on. No one was going to save me anymore.

Ok... Ok... One Two... THREE! I braced myself, and pushed myself off the ground. My arms trembled under the strain. I just had to sit up...! The looming tree trunks were so far away, only thirteen feet away, but still a long travel for me. One hand numbly pressed on the ground, The second pressed forward, my feet dragging behind.

Feeling the pain drag along was torture. Twigs and rocks rolled along my bloody wound, I had yet to observe the severity. But I feared the worst. Was the bone broken? That crash had been quite severe. Third step, I grunted, fourth crawl, My vision began to blur. "SHIT!"

The moving was creating a dizziness in my mind, I wanted to stay still and throw up. But I had to keep going.

Within minutes I managed to clutch at the tree in my line of view. It was a beacon of relief. But the hardest part was over. I groaned in relief. I took a minute to rest, to catch my breath. I twisted around, sitting against the tree trunk.

I got a good view of the forest. Dark. The large trees blocked out light from the moon- but I could see the stars in the sky. That told me I was fair away from any village- if I was, the light coming frm the Electricity and fire would have blocked the stars out a bit. But the stars here were beautiful.

If I died, I'd atleast die looking at the most beautiful site in the world. The heavens. Ugh- focus. I AM NOT GOING TO DIE! I chanted in my mind. That would be a no no. All my efforts would be a waste- to get away from that red headed whore, to become stronger than that .. that BITCH.

From my small bag latched to my hip I drew a torch, I flicked it on and observed the damage of my leg. It wasn't as bad as I thoguht, but that didn't mean it was any good. It was quite... horrid.

It's weird. I heal wounds like this, I sympathise with victims, I think 'oh, that looks bad', but I never think about it truly. Now taht it's happening to me, I'm feelnig sick- I can now truly feel for those victims. Blood was thick and coated with dirt and small splinters. The blood was coming out from a large gash on my calve. It began from my knee to my ankle, there were many more cuts and wounds on my thighs, but they weren't as bad as the current wound on my left leg.

Do I have enough chakra? Yes- Yes, enough, but I had to be mindful about it. I could only heal it alittle and wrap it up. Here was where I'd have to camp. With a sigh, I began.

Water from my small canteen was used to wash my legs, the rest was used to quench my thirst. Red liquid, thinned by water, washed down my skin. The wound began to sting, the long gash would leave a scar unless I healed it into a small cut, that was all I could do with such limited power.

I prepared myself by laying bandages and clips out beside me. Ok- here I go. Stretching my arm out, I laid my hand above that bloody mess and focused on it. It was hard, to scrape chakra I didn't require and use it. It was like having a budget of small money and shopping in Gucci. It was hardly possible.

The skin became warm thuogh. It's working. I mustered my own strength and gave a relieved smile. Those wounds slowly healed, teh skin growing back, weaving together across the bloody mess. it was freakish- But natural, and I did this for a living. Well, I used to.

I stayed there, focusing on it, watching the skin leave behind barely any mark. But I had to stop as soon as stars littered my view, reminding me that I was running low on my own power. Hmm- not bad. There would be no scar, unless I got it infected. But with my expertise, that wouldn't be possible.

Slowly, I wrapped the bandage around my limbs, forgetting about the attacked skin on my arms, chest and face. If anything, my legs had taken the blow, having kicked into the tree before anything else could. My face had a few scrapes, a few bruises, a lot of dirt soiling my skin, that's all. My arms had little damage. Thank goodness. I needed to fight with those.

The white bandage was so pretty- and it had that fresh smell. I miss the hospital. But I couldn't think like that. This is my new life- and as I just learnt, I can live without those who wronged me. I'm fine.

I smiled to myself breathlessly. I'm fine. I will survive- I'm sure. I flicked the flash light off, and without a second thought (Though it was foolish) fell asleep. It was the best sleep I'd ever had for a long time, and I dreamed pleasant dreams.

...

Sasuke stood motionless by the path, watching her run off. Would she return? Yes- he was sure. Sakura wasn't one to run away from her comfort zone. She'd be back within a week? Yes. Sasuke knew Sakura. She just needed to stop over reacting.

Of course that bullying was real- and he was angry with all those stupid idiots, they trusted that stupid whore Karin. Stupid Whore. STupid, slutty whore.

By now, with her chakra control, she could be miles and miles and miles away. Uhn, he sighed, what's this feeling in my stomach? something was churning in his stomach uneasily. It could have been a damn rotten tomato in his pasta, or it could be him feeling... Uneasy.

...Sasuke decided it was just his pasta. Being Uneasy was so Un-Uchiha like. Sariously.

Anger settled inside of him. This stupid village was making everything retarded! They... They hurt Sakura. Why was Sasuke bothered? Because they were friends. Sure, they sometimes looekd like lovers, being so close and all- but it wasn't anything like that. She trsuted Sasuke and... Sasuke ... Trusted her. Yes? No? Trusting her had once seemed like a problem, but she had changed. So, yes. He did trust her.

They were friends. Best Friends. Of course he had more than just Sakura, but he was all she had- he even trained with her and taught her new Jutsu's. Agh? Why did he feel bothered? Would she return...? Sasuke was confused. He was certain she would- but what was that feeling he felt? Sadness? Guilt? Anguish? Ugh- Emotions were totally not his profession.

With a shake of his head, he shrugged it off. It didn't matter. She'd come back. With a frown on his face, he turned to walk away. It was sad to see her go though. She was so determined, but her heart was the same as when she was a child- she'd just come running back. But that made him angry- This village was cruel. They did the same thing they did to Naruto to Sakura.

"Damn you, Konoha." He muttered under his breath. Sasuke would have thought Naruto'd understand. That thick headed idiot. Naruto was such a ... a stupid Jackass! He thought everything was fine- that optimisitic idiot doesn't even ask anything about Sasuke, he just spent everyday hanging around Karin and Hinata. Bitchy red headed prick. Little stupidly shy Asshole. Blonde haired bastard.

But... Sometimes Sasuke felt glad Naruto was his friend. Sometimes it was just annoying.

The deserted village was dark, no one was awake, no one was walking, not even Jounin or Chunin on cuorse. Konoha had become lazy. Just because of the famous Uchiha coming back. How pathetic. Tsunade was a drunk, Neji was a selfposessed egomaniac, Shikamaru was a lazy bum and Shizune was an underestimated and selfconcious ninja. Great- these were the people ruling Konoha.

"Stupid place." He kicked a stone infront of him. "Bitchy Karin."

All was silent until an exagerrated moan was heardd from behind. Sasuke jumped, turning around. "What the ...?" He hadn't sensed anyhting. No Chakra signal, no heart signal- nothing. But to his surprise, he saw no one. Who was this? W-What was going on? Those were the questions he would've asked if he wasn't a freaking UChiha.

"Sharingan!"

Ah. "Karin." Yes, from behind a wall he sensed a chakra, not too strong, not too weak. It was just an irritating chakra- like that bitches voice.

"Yes- Sasuke!" Laughed a haughty voice. Out from behind the building wall came, to Sasuke's absolute angusih, Karin. Her chubby and piggy face armed with the painfully innocent gaze she gave anyone to hide her true personality. "Ne, Naruto taught me this trick- to hide my chakra!" Ugh, Sasuke shuddered. He knew very well that she was smarter than she seemed, but was bitchy, mean and ignorant.

Sasuke gave a quiet snarl, "Damn you- You knew very well how to do that before."

Those cherry red eyes glinted with evil. "..." She gaev a giggle.

"You know, it was very smart. Turning everyone against Sakura. But not really-" Sasuke sighed, "I wasn't convinced."

"That's a lie."

"You know very well it isn't."

"I know very well that you had your doubts about her."

Sasuke glared at her, narrowing his onyx eyes. "Yes. I _had_ those doubts. I know now that you're bitchy attitude destroyed the life of an innocent woman."

With a little smile, Karin shook her shaggy red hair, the color making Sasuke ashamed his Sharingan was red. "Yes, but I have you now!" Those fat lips twisted into an obsessive smile, a grin.

The raven haired Jounin snarled at her, "You'll never have me!"

"Oh, but I will. One way," She giggled foolishly, probably thinking it was cute. "Or ... Another." The glint in her eyes sent a chill up his spine, like ice running up and down his spine. "hihi." She giggled childishly, waving and running off, swinging her chubby body around.

Oh, yuck. The site of her from behind created a churning feeling in his stomach, like waves of water beating against the walls of a cave, bile was running up his throat. Several times he gagged. "oh, God, yuck." Those chubby legs jiggled as she half skipped half ran, her tight pants were threatening to tear against her blubbery thigh's.

Ok. Well. The bitch has scared him. Yes- A giant snake couldn't scare him, a pedophilic freak would never scare him, yes, but a freaking teenage, idiotic woman could chill his blood and cause his heart to shrivel in disgust.

Well. Konoha was completely ruined. He would leave- if something happened. When Tsunade ever noticed Sakura gone, he'd have to wait for her action, When they thought of what to do= if they should decide hunt Sakura down and kill her, he'd go, hide her, fight with her, maybe kill the hunting party. If they passed her situation with sadness and guilt, he'd blame Karin, he wouldn't stop until she was kicked out, or tortured, or killed. He'd have to just sit and watch, like a Crow observing his prey.

...


	2. Found

What surprised me the most was that I was awake; I survived my sleep.

I must have slept only two hours or so. The darkness was still in the sky, the moon and stars high up in the sky. The pain around me was still there, I ached. My heart was hurting more than anything.

The digital watch hidden in my small bag was blinking '1:50 am'. Yes, I'd slept about four hours and thirty minutes. What woke me?

A twig snapped. "Ah?" A gasp escaped my lips, I looked around in surprise. But it was too dark to see anything. Feeling around for chakra, I sensed nothing, no animal, no small creature. Nothing. Unless someone was masking their Chakra signal. I was utterly defenseless, half paralysed in agony and fear. The only light source came from the digital watch in my hand and the moon above the trees.

My hands fumbled around for the torch. Oh, come on! My mind begged, where is it? I just had it before I fell asleep! "Shoot!" I growled quietly. It wasn't their, the heavy cylinder torch that could possibly save my life from sudden attack. Damn.

"Un- she's a bit fidgety."

I froze.

What?

Who?

Where?

Huh?

That ... Gah! I winced as I shifted. "Shi-" Wait. That voice. It... It can't be.

"I have no idea why Master would want this little girl."

That voice was even more familiar.

Damn. this is bad.

"W-Who's there?" I knew it was a stupid question, but I needed to be confirmed. "...He-Hello?" My hands searched in my pockets frantically, running around the fabric furiously for some kind of weapon. "...Damn." I whispered, my hand only bumping along a few emergency Jutsu Scrolls (I'd have used them, but my chakra was low)._ I'm dead_, I thought. _I am soo dead. Dead. Dead. __**Dead**_**. **My hand gripped a rock, finding one lodged under my thigh. It was just a round rock, a simple weapon for only the very desperate of people.

"Ne, she's so cute, struggling and acting all nervous."

"Rookie." Replied a quiet voice.

"Look- just come out and fight like a man!" I barked angrily. What was this? Some kind of joke? Were they just going to sit and watch me panic? _**No, No, NO!**__ I am not going to panic, I will firm my face_! My teeth clenched.

A laugh came from infront of me, behind a line of trees and bushes. "...Ha, she's so cute."

I gave a stoic face, but my true impatience, anger, frustration, was bubbling under the surface. Control was something I had to remember- but it was hard. The urge to run and shred those two, or more, unknown shinobi to bits was strong, as shrong as the 'force' in Anakin Skywalker. And Yes, I had previously watched a whole Marathon on the Star Wars movies before I left.

Anakin Skywalker is the best- No, No! can't get distracted. _Come on, I know I have them somewhere! Oh... shit. Don't tell me I dropped them somewhere? _My eyes widened. Oh no.

Maybe they were where I had landed- I have to look. Gripping the rock as back up, my legs shuffled forward shakily, numbly. My free hand searched in panic, shaking. come on, Come on!

Yes- Yes- YES!

Shit. It was just a branch.

A chuckle errupted from infront of me. "Come on, let's stop torturing her- she'll die."

"Yes. And you know how much-"

"yeah, yeah, I know. You hate waiting."

Shit. Yes. Yes. I know. They're ...

A bright light shone infront of me, highlighting every leaf and branch, every blood stain in the dirt and ... The kunai and Shuriken I was searching for. Damn. I looked up, not surprised now. Yes.

Deidara and Sasori. No formalities for that trash. They were Akatsuki, ruthless criminals. But... Tears began to slide down my cheeks uncontrollably. I shouldn't worry about my life. I had nothing to live for, no one to survive for. Damn. I was so useless. Crying, complaining, lying in the dirt and wishing that death would strike me.

...What was I doing? Trying to live outside of my comfort zone. I ... I can't do it. I can't just run from the village and expect to survive with so many criminals on the loose these days. But I did it.

That's right. I did it. My shoulders squared, my jaw clenched. But tears poured. I did it on my own. And before they killed me, or tortured me for information (Which I would never give), I'd go down fighting, kicking and screaming. "Damn you!" I screamed, jumping onto my shaky and weak knees and running towards those two smirking faces. "Damn you to hell, you Demonic spawn!" I spat the first words that came to my mind, lunging at the red hedaed Sasori first with the rock. All I had to do was beat his heart caption out and slam it and crush it with all my strength.

Even if all my chakra was pushed into it, and I dropped dead, then fine. I took one Akatsuki member down, that's what mattered! With fire in my eyes, and a war cry in my throat, the rock in my hand was guided into a beeline towards his chest. The Akatsuki cloak covered him, but I knew where that stupid caption was. WHY WAS HE ALIVE ANYWAY?

A smirk only colored his face, his brown eyes not calculating my movements, but not worried. Deidara was laughing wildly. Jeeze, I wish he'd shut up.

The soft cloak was the first thing I felt. With a scream, I tumbled down, on top of his thin body. But it wasn't firm. It was soft. What was this? "W-Wah!" Complete fury escaped my soul, replacing itself with uncertainty. But my hand was fierce, beating down on his chest furiously, forcing my arm to work with little chakra. "DIE!"

He began to chuckle a little. Sociopath, I wanted to yell. But no. This was serious, and it ws terrifying. That stupid smirk. That stupid, stupid smirk! Water grew by the corners of my eyes again, I wanted to scream at myself. STOP! Something cracked under the rock, the fabric tore and revealed his chest. I shrieked. Nothing, no cracked wood, no heart seal, no splinters- just blood and skin. If that was real skin, then I probably broke a rib, if he ...

W-When did he get skin? Confusion flashed through me.

This isn't working. I turned to Deidara who was walking towards me and chucked the rock at him, hitting him square in the chest and causing him to fall back. It didn't stip him, he just paused to watch me with humor. What's wrong with them?

I roared, "YOU DEMON!" pulling my arms up and clutching my fists together. He'll die! I forced every bit of my chakra into that punch, bringing it down in complete fury and determination...

CRASH!

Yes. Crash. It may sound stupid, but that was how it sounded. Crash. I stopped, falling forward in alarm. Rock, dust and tree roots sprayed everywhere. My heart sank as my body weakened. I was fading, yet I couldn't see any blood, brains, nothing. And I didn't know how he became human. I killed him. Chiyo and I killed him!

Bum, bum, bum, bum, my heart slowed. My sight dimmed.

I twisted around, falling on my back, sliding into the crater I had created. I saw them. Their smirks, their amused looks, their playful eyes. Sasori's red hair shone in the lgith, which, as I observed with slow understanding, was just a bunch of glow sticks sitting on a branch. Deidara was looking at me, hanging over me.

So. This was it.

_Atleast I tried. I'm not ashamed. _And as I slowly faded, I was pleased to know that I didn't shed any tears as I faded out.

...

The sun gleamed brightly, high in the air. The birds were twittering away. The trees were whooshing and whispering loudly. An alarm clock was singing somewhere in the village of Konoha.

By a shabby building, close to a specific ramen stand, a loud song was ringing from a small room. '...Hey, you,what's a good girl, like you, doing in this crazy world, what's a good gone girl? Dance, Dance...' A tanned hand slammed down on the alarm 'stop' button. The song stopped, Mika's own voice stopping mid-harmonised tune.

"Darn- so tired." Yawned a voice. It belonged to a favoured Shinobi, recently promoted Jounin. Naruto Uzumaki. "I hurt all... over." He groaned to himself.

Last night, probably at 12 am, had not been so good, the blonde haired teenager reminded himself. He and that bastard Sasuke, who, at the same time, was his best friend, had gotten into a fight. It ended up in that stupid bastard winning without a bruise, and Naruto ending up with a bruised stomach. Stupid Bastard caught him off guard. He could barely remember anything that happened- after the fight, it went blank for a while, then he remembered coming home in absolute agony.

Instantly Naruto had thought, 'oh, yeah, Sakura could fix it'. But then his heart filled with sadness. That rude little bitch... He narrowed his eyes in memory. Karin had told him everything. She told Hinata everything. Karin had told everyone the truth about Sakura.

'_Well, Yah, Sakura left her Diary on the bench-'_ Naruto didn't even know Sakura owned a Diary, '_And, I know it was wrong, but I took a peek... I just wanted to know how she thought about me..._' Naruto had become angry when Karin invaded Sakura's diary, but was curious. The red headed woman of seventeen was crying a little when she said it- she had a rigt to be heard. Ino was eager for the gossip, Hinata was a bit dissapointed, NEji was barely interested, Lee was sitting on a bench whilst watching with 'youthfully beautiful' eyes (Cough, ew, cough) and Kakashi was sitting on a tree branch reading his perverted book. '_But it was so horrible! O-oh... I feel so horrified she thinks of you all that way!_' That cought everyone's attention.

Rolling out of bed and collapsing onto the floor in pain, Naruto, the yellow haired, future Hokage, let him remind anyone, grunted. '_Naruto- I'm so, soo sorry! B-but... I think you all need to hear this! Sakura just uses you for Protection!_' Of course, Naruto had acted harshly, snapping that she was wrong, telling her to stop it- but deep in his heart, he could feel doubt inside. Would Sakura think that way? Of course she wasn't strong in confidence or chakra, but she was so... kind and honorouble- not a coward! '_It's the truth!_' Karin had cried and whined, '_She said I... She said I was a little whore- this was yesterday- she forced Sasuke to kiss her and then attacked me!_' Karin revealed several bruises, and Naruto was already convinced.

Everyone was ready to believe it. After all, Sakura had always been in love with Sasuke, and hated her competition. It made sense... But... How could she do that? Just write those things down about them?

Naruto groaned again, lifting himself up and slouching over to the small kitchen, cooking his own packet Pork and Ginger Ramen in the microwave. The ramen tasted bitter, instead of Salty. Ugh, he thought. It's passed it's expiry date.

'_...Oh, Ino- She hates you. Sakura wishes you'd stop boasting about being strong when she wrote down... ''__Ino acts so cool- I hate how charismatic she is, always acting as if she's the queen. She's just a pig in a skirt.__''._' Ino ran off crying in anger.

Shikamaru had asked for proof. Karin showed the diary- but Naruto was skeptical again. On every book she owned, Sakura pasted a picture of a Cherry Blossom flower on the cover... But those words- they felt real. Shikamaru had walked away, shrugging- No one wassure if he believed it, sometimes he supported her, sometimes he just acted crispy towards her.

Even if they tasted horrible, Naruto swallowed the ramen up as if the noodles were the best in the world. Bitter. Bitter. Bitter. Like those tears Hinata had cried. Everyone had trusted Sakura as if she were their Kin. No one went near her, no one asked for an explanation. In their anger, they asked for no explanation. It was foolish, and that was how the Uzumaki himself felt. He planned to confront her, but he just kept chickening out, remembering those words.

'_..."__...I love how easy it is to fool Naruto, I know he loves me, deep down. It's fun to take advantage oh him. He protects me, like the stupid bulky piece of muscle he is. He's an airhead- I can't believe this stupid Konoha would accept him as a normal human being. He has a demon inside of him. That definitely makes him a demon, a monster. What an idiot...__''... See, Naruto? She's using you!_' Naruto glared at his chopsticks.

For two years he tried to forget about her, work withher, but stay professional. But a turmoil of anger, distrust, love and sadness entered him.

Karin was his friend now... But he missed Sakura.

When half the Noodles dissapeared into his stomach and hte broth was running down his throat, Naruto wiped his mouth with his arm. It was time to get dressed. He was late- but all he wanted to do was sleep. Plus, his head hurt. That last cup of Whiskey was a bad idea.

Ugh- Granny Tsunade was going to kill him. Quickly, He got changed, wearing hs favoured Orange and Black sweatsuit and tying on his Konoha head band. His sandals had already been on from last night. Naruto had been so tired, he'd just managed to pull off his clothes before collapsing onto his bed with his sandals on.

Jumping out of the window, and skipping among hte house roofs, Naruto waved to several familiar shinobi. "HiyA!" He yelled, grinning brightly.

From roof to roof he jumped, smiling and waving at villagers. It was pretty peaceful, awesomely peaceful.

...

I landed in Granny Tsunade's office through the window, lucky that the large window pane had been previously broken by Jiraiya. "Sorry I'm late, Granny!" I laughed, seeing the figure of Tsunade slumped over her study desk- oof, I wasn't the only one that had a rough night.

She grunted as a sign of her listening, straightening just a bit to stare at me with dark honey eyes. "Naruto- why are you late?"

aha, I awkwardly scratched the back of my head, "Ahhh- I slept in..." Damn, she's gonna kill me! "B-B-But-" Granny's face turned red and furious, "But I'm here now- s-so no harm done, eh?"

"Naruto, you idiot!" She growled, "You have a damn frog faced alarm clock, it will only take ten seconds to wind the alarm an hour before your needed-"

"But Graaanny." I moaned, "Seriously? you must have heard what happened last night? I was too tired to turn any damn alarm clock on at the right time."

She glared, "Yes- I heard. I was also there- if you don't remember."

"No- I don't."

"Well good, because you were drunk, you did try to kiss Shizune and you did try to hug Pakun."

What? That was some strong whiskey, "W-What? Ewww!" Pakun sucks, he's a jerk. I can understand my trying to kiss Shizune, but ... hugging Pakun? Ewwww. No wonder I smell like dog.

"Yes- well, it happened." She straightened up, wiping ehr pink lips with one slim white hand. "Ugh." She leaned back on the chair and sighed, "Gosh, I loev drinking- but I hate those damn hangovers."

Instead of standing next to her, I wondered over to the front of her desk and sat in one of the wooden chairs. "So, Granny, why do ya want to see me?" My eyes widened, "Did you accept my request for that S-rated mission? Oh_my_gawd, I won't let you down!"

"Shut it." Tsunade muttered. "No- I... I gave that mission to another team." I frowned.

"Nooo fair."

"Shut up, Naruto!" She growled, being impatient as usual, "I'm waiting for Sasuke and Neji-"

"We goin' on a mission?"

"Yes."

"What kind?"

"C-rated."

"..."

Tsunade sighed, "Look, yuo're bringing a team of-"

Shizune burst through the doors, holding the pig in her arms that squealed in alarm, "M'lady!"

Tsunade rose in alarm, "S-shizune?" She clutched her head, "ah, not so loud!"

"S-Sorry, M'lady..."

I got up, my chair toppling down dramatically. Time to be Mr. Sensitive... Or... Mr. Cool. Whatever she needs me for. "What's wrong, Shizune?"

"Kurenai- K-" She began to splutter, panting and dropping the pig.

"Kurenai?" I asked, "Is... Did she die?"

"N-No..." She panted. She looked up, taking a deep breath, "Kurenai had walked past Sakura's apartment to go and get ready for a mission-" I frowned. Not itnerested. Unless that pink haired girl has run away, or died, I just do not care. "And she knocked on the door, no one answered." That sounds like Sakura. Being a shut in cry baby. "She entered and the whole apartment was empty! Sakura wasn't there!"

"What?" Tsunade stood up straight and raced to Shizune, "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Kurenai searched for her-" I don't know why, personally. Why look for Sakura? All she did ws complain, cry, bitch. It's useless. Kurenai was always the one to put faith in her- she stood by Sakura. I dunno why. Sasuke, the bastard, did too. "Kurenai accidently bumped into Sasuke and he said she left!"

Tsunade crossed her arms impatiently, "That's it, Call everyone in- Call Kurenai, Sasuke, Neji, Kakashi, Karin, Hinata and Asuma! call the man owning the apartment as well." She groaned, "Why is taht girl causing trouble at such an un-godly hour? It's only seven am. Jeeze."

Sakura? gone? Something in my mind was whispering, 'it's a possibility, we shouldn't doubt it.'. Damn. This is my fault. This is all our fault. But why do I care? Just a moment ago I didn't want to care. but, I ... I know she must be feeling guilty about those thigns she said. Yeah. She must be guilty, she must want to... redeem herself? By crying? What could Sakura actually do? cry? That's all I can think of. I hid a smirk behind my hand. Bt... she could also kill herself.

I know Sakura as the desperate kind.

Damn, what have I done? I should have confronted her. I should've made her apologise. Stupid Sakura.

...

Ugh... Oh... God.

My eyes... I can't see! W-What? My hands felt paralyzed. W-what was going on? Was this death?

W-Wait... What happened?

_'"Damn you!" I screamed, jumping onto my shaky and weak knees and running towards those two smirking faces'_ O-Oh!

"Akazki!" I yelled instinctively. I heard my voice and it was muffled. Something was tied around my mouth. Breathing suddenly became hard as I paniced. Oh no. The Akatsuki kept me alive. They're going to torture me! They're going to torture me!

As I woke up, I became aware of what I could feel. I was sitting on something hard. I was tied up by my ankles and wrists, gagged by my mouth. A blindfold covered my eyes. Wind was battering me harshly, it was easy to tell that I was on something moving. '**Whoosh, whoosh, Whoosh!**' The noise was playing a calm tune, the whoosh's slow and calm, ocassionally stopping, but then starting again.

A chuckle tickled my cheek, sending my brain into red alert mode. '_**Damn. RAPE, RAPE!**_' My feminine instincts were also screaming and warning me, but I highly doubted the Akatsuki planned on raping me. That was... sick. Yuck. Didn't they have Kisame? The shark dude? Damn. Images of being eaten by a giant, grey man with hugely sharp teeth flashed in my head.

"Ah!" I whimpered, feeling a warm arm wrap around my arms. Sharp nails pressed into my skin lightly. Ok. Maybe my feminine instincts were right.

_Not today, Bozo_! Wow, that would have been cool to call him that... But not now. Maybe in some corny action film starring Drew Barrymore or Cameron Diaz the line might have been useful. I shrugged my arm away, but the hand held on tighter.

The clutch reminded me of those big snakes that just tighten their grip until they kill you by suffocation. Yuck.

"Ne, Deidara, take that stupid thing off of her. She's a freaking guest, not a slave."

A guest? Oh... So when they attacked me they were supposedly asking me to join them for dinner. Oh, yes, how pleasant. Yes, I replied by trying to bash their faces in- which was a way to say '**Hell to the no!**'

But they didn't really attack me. I did all the attacking.

"Un, but she looks cute this way."

"You think she looks cute all the time."

"She's got freaking pink hair and green eyes- what's not cute about her?"

"Yes, but like you, and every other human, she'll grow grey and fat-"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up, Pinochio, enough about your Creepy Puppet Art talk."

A tsk came from, what I guessed was Sasori. "No more wood jokes, idiot."

He-He. I wanted to laugh and giggle. I wasn't exactly in pain. They haven't hurt me yet. The pain I already had was my fault. Wait- what if this was just some trick from Itachi Uchiha?

Oh, shit. This was weird.

Instantly, I flinched. A hand stroked my cheek as another untied the tight fabric over my mouth. That reminded me. I'm thirsty. "Let me go-" I instantly cried out. "What have I done to you-" My voice was hoarse.

"Other than kill me?"

"I wasn't speaking to you!" I snapped. "I was _talking _to Deidara."

A laugh caressed my ear, a hand sliding down my long hair and gathering it into a ponytail whilst another stroked my chin. "Sorry, Angel. Can't let you go- Orders from the boss."

"W-What if this is some Trick frmo Itachi's Mangekyo- or whatever it's called!"

"Ha, if it was some trick from that idiotic Uchiha's eye, you would know."

_I_ _g- I guess that's true_, I thought. _I should be cautious, though. I won't talk, I won't reveal any secrets. _A frown touched my lips, _No matter how Konoha betrayed me, I could never do the same..._

_**What are you saying? They broke your heart- You deserve to get revenge- to right the wrong you were dealt with. If they broke your heart, you break their mind. They all deserve it!**_ Inner growled. Inside of me, the heat of her/my anger burnt by my heart. I'm ashamed to say, I almost felt tempted to yell out secrets from Konoha, to run to Konoha and rip the spines out of those ... Those... Those...

_**Bastards. Those Idiots. Those Monkeys. Those clumsy ass holes.**_

I wanted so much to agree. Deidara's arms left me, letting the cold wind cover me in it's own embrace.

"Why do you need me?" I yelled impatiently, my voice thick with sleep and pain.

For a moment I thought they'd left me on whatever I was on. I hope I'm not flying- the thought terrified me. Just as I was about to panic, Sasori answered me. "...How would I know?"

"What is Pein-sama thinking, un? All this trouble for a little girl."

A deep growl emitted from me. How dare they? I began to tear up again. I hated how he said that. Little Girl. They didn't think much of me. They hated me- I'm sure. "Shut it, I'm not a little girl-"

"Sakura, I don't know. Leader-sama does strange things for strange reasons. Not even I, Sasori, can understand him." Sasori gave me a cold voice- and I barely heard him over the whistling wind.

Where ws I? The curiousity gnawed at me impatiently like a hungry dog chewing on a dry bone. My mind was everywhere. Inner was dragging my mind around, my own free mind was dragging me another way. The comments given by Deidara and Sasori hurt me- even if I didn't like them.

_Where am I? How come Sasori bled? Why does this 'leader' want me? Will I die on the first day? Will I be tortured to death over the weeks for information? Why is the pain in my body burning- Why is Sasori alive?_

I wanted to see- that would help me. "Untie my blnid fold." I commanded, "Untie it now."

"No."

"I want to see where I am. Are we riding in a carriage?"

"Definetely not." Deidara sighed dreamily. "We are on the most artistic object in this whole world- it's beauty even rivalling a setting sun, rivalling a beautiful maiden crying by her dead husband- My art rivals even the view of the heavens. As we fly on this gigantic sculpted bird, I can see and boast proudly about my art!-"

"Don't make me laugh." Sasori growled.

"-W-WHAT? W-We're FLYING?" I shrieked, whimpering and beginning to cry. The thought of dying seemed honorable now, seeing that I'm worthless, but... Falling. Falling from the sky scared me. I've seen people die from falling off cliffs, being crushed by their own body, breaking necks, breaking limbs. I... I would rather be boiled in hot water and fed to demons than fall from the heavens and collide with the hardened ground of the unforgiveable earth.

"GET ME DOWN!" I screamed, crying in fear. "GET ME DOWN _NOW_!"

A laugh came from Deidara. How I knew, was because Deidara seemed to be the only one to be cheerful and deadly at the same time. Sociopath. "I'll FALL!"

"Well, let's hope not!" Deidara laughed teasingly, "You haven't fallen yet for the four hours we've been up. un!"

"Deidara- I'm busy reading this map, untie the damn blind fold so she can stop screaming."

Wh-What? Sasori isn't driving this thing? But Deidara hasn't? Has he? Who's driving. "WE'LL CRASH!" I cried out in fear. "Let me down- Let me down now!"

If I fell, those two men wouldn't save me! "I'm telling you to stop this thing!"

_**Ugh, What are you doing? Begging infront of these moronic brutes? I'm not weak! Stop- STOP! Stop crying!**_ If Inner me was a physical being, I'm sure she'd be slapping me senseless to gather my thoughts.

_Shut it, Inner- You aren't helping! _My own mind was whining now- and I'm ashamed. So ashamed. I was doing what I swore never to do. I'm like a drug addict. Attention is my drug. I can never stop addicting the pity, love and attention. I try to tell myself to stop. When I do, I'll start that horrid cycle again. Breaking my own promises. Making a big fool out of myself. I'm so sick of it. I try so hard to break this cycle, this habit, but it's difficult.

"Stop crying, Pinky."

"W-What?" I whimpered, wishing to the Gods that I could break free from those rope bonds and remove the stupid blind fold to wipe my stupid angry tears. "I-I'm not crying." I stubbornly whispered, my voice cracking a little. I giggled a little though. Pinky. 'Pinky'. Out of all the names I've been given, I liked Pinky.

Pinky was cheerful, cheeky, informal... It was much better than being called 'forehead girl', 'pig', 'idiot', 'bitch', 'whore'. "Since when was _Pinky_ my name?"

A chuckle from Deidara was my reply, a ruffle of my hair encouraged me to calm. "...We won't fall. This is my beauty, my art. It has no flaws, it is just a simple and safe bird of clay. It won't explode or crash."

It may seem strange, Hell, it's alien to me, but I ... I already feel as If I could trust them, just by a little. They're much better than Konoha. Hmm... Konoha. Oh, how I wanted to crush that village in my hands now. They don't care for me. But I would never betray them to others- I don't know why. I just can't do it. Maybe it's because I want to do it by myself.

If anyone was going to destroy and break that fucking village, it would be me. Even when thinking, my face held a snarly look, glaring at nothing but a mental image of those villagers.

...


	3. Flying

"What time is it?" I asked quietly.

"7:30 am."

I nodded. "When are we getting there? Wher ever we're going..."

"We've been flying for more than four hours, Deidara." Sasori joined in with the complaining, but with a subtle tone. Smooth move Block head.

"Look, Puppet, Pinky, you're not looking for this damned hideout, I am. Let me do my freaking job. Un."

"Gah- just find a clearing-"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

I had to admit it, they were funny. It was like listening to an episode of 'Scrubs'. "Can someone please untie this blind fold?"

"Nawh." Deidara answered with a yawn.

Ugh- Stubborn as a donkey! "Sasori- if you don't untie these stupid binds I'll destroy you like I did last time."

There was a silence, and then an amused chuckle. "And how, cherry blossom, will you do that?" Sasori asked quietly, I'm guessing he was sitting near me as his voice was clear iver the howling wind. "You are tied up, after all- your chakra is depleted, how do you propose to kill me?"

"..."

Deidara laughed, "aha, Sasori, you ass hole."

I gritted my teeth, "Are you here to get revenge on me?"

"...I wish..."

Deidara laughed again, "un, no. I told you, our Master wants you for some other reason."

How delightful, I wanted to laugh in hysterical madness. This is just great- being kidnapped by two sexy men, wanting nothing more than to just fall out of the sky and into the clutches of some other family who would love me. How awesome- probably being held for torture, information... Rape. Shit- rape. "If you rape me, I'll bite your tongues off."

"Rape?" Sasori asked, confused. "W-"

"Un. Rape? BAHAHAHA!" My cheeks burned red, "Rape you? Sorry, I prefer my victims with full chests and without earth crushing strength."

"Bastard." I muttered.

"And as usual, Deidara strikes with the ladies again." Sasori murmured sarcastically.

"Atleast I have a raging libido- you can't even remember how to pleasure a lady-"

"...That's not what your mother said." The reply from Sasori was strange... I totally never expected him to say that. What I did expect was the following line, '_Shut up, blondie. Taste the wrath of my totally awesome puppet strings- I shall terminate you.'_

I ish I was deaf, because they began to whine and attack eachother verbally, and honestly, it was not funny- it was weird.

...

(Naruto POV)

Everyone was gathered, sitting or standing in the Hokage's office. "What's going on Kurenai? Tell us." Tsunade demanded, standing tall. "We have a code red if Sakura is gone." I knew that, she held precious information about the Konohagakure village. If she really was gone, we'd have to kill her. I didn't want to do that- I _**really**_ didn't want to- but I am prepared to ask for her back, I am prepared to fight for her- I will get her back. But if all fails, I'll be prepared to kill her.

"She _is_ gone." Kurenai muttered, sitting in the middle of the room on a chair. "A few weeks ago Tsunade promised Sakura and I a mission that we should have been on right now..." She looked at Tsunade's face as she said this, her red eyes serious. "This morning at five, I went to her Apartment, I saw in the large trash can that there were a few plastic bags with her clothes spilling everywhere. I thought, 'oh, she's just throwing away old clothes'. I just went up to her floor and knocked on the door- I waited five minutes, but she just never answered. I thought, maybe something's happened- Sakura promised to be there."

Shizune was taking notes down, pausing only a few times to listen in.

Everyone in the cool room was listening intently, staring at Kurenai. I noticed Karin leaning on the wall, staring at the ceiling in boredom. Sasuke was shuffling away from Karin, making sure he was on the other sid eof the room near Tsunade. Bastard.

"I was just curious and concerned, so I broke her door down- the whole place was clean. I mean," Kurenai rubbed her forehead, squinting, "it wasn't empty. The furniture was there, a few pictures of Team Kakashi," What? Why wuold Sakura keep those pictures? "A few other pictures- I think she took a few pictures of her parents." Of course- her parents were traitors. They killed two elders, so Tsunade had them wiped out. I felt sorry for Sakura, but... I feel that what happened was unjust- they may have been traitors, but I don't think they should have died, but they should have been kicked out of the village. "Her clothes were gone- I'm guessing all those clothes in the bin were all of hers. The rooms were empty, the bed spreads gone, pillows gone..." Kurenai pursed her lips. "Except for those pictures, it was like there was no evidence of her existance."

"Thankyou, Kurenai." Tsunade nodded, crossing her arms and pushing herself away from the wall. "...When was teh last time you saw Sakura?"

"Yesterday at half past four pm."

"Thankyou." Tsunade motioned for the red eyed woman to stand up and stand by Asuma sensei. "Wait... You mentioned before to Shizune that Sasuke was the one to tell you that Sakura had... left."

"Yes, affirmative."

Tsunade nodded, "Ok, Sasuke, sit and talk."

In the corner I watched as Sasuke, who darkly nodded and glared at everyone, walk to the center of the room and sit himself on his arse. His precious little Uchiha parrot arse. Bastard.

"...What do you want me to say?" He asked impatiently.

"Just tell us the beginning." hinata shly murmured. Oh, isn't she just beautiful? so cute.

Sasuke turned a glare at her, glowering at her. Bastard- how dare he. What did she do to him- What a bastard, treating her like that. "ok. Fine. I'll tell you what I know." He gave a hard smirk, "At the beginning, there was a big bang- a colliding of what I believe were -"

"Shut it, bastard- you know what we mean!" I barked. "Cocky ass hole." I mumbled.

"NAruto, shut up!" Tsunade barked, her face turning red in impatience.

"...fine..." I grumbled.

Sasuke sighed, his black trench coat tightening as he took a deep breath in, glaring at everyone. "...Well... It was about ten thirty pm, something like that. I was taking a walk to the training grounds."

"Alone?"

"yes." Sasuke snapped, "I'm not usually the one to socialise."

"Carry on."

"..." Sasuke sighed, "ugh, I was walking and I saw Sakura waiting by the gate-"

"waiting?" Tsunade muttered. "Why would she wait-"

"I don't know." Sasuke snapped again, "Do you want me to takl, or not?"

Anger grew in me. What an ass hole- speaking to Granny like that. Ugh, he deserved a hard punch to his perfect face. "Yes, of course," Shizune pleaded, watching Tsunade grow red with anger ever so slowly. "Please carry on...!"

Sakura, why would she wait? Was she waiting for some criminal to pick her up? Was she waiting for some kind of Shinobi returning from a mission? I had a doubt it was the latter. Not to be insulting, but I highly doubted she had anyone who wanted her to wait for them...

"I looked at what she was carrying: A travel bag-"

"How big?"

"big enough for her to carry over her shoulders. Sakura had a small bag around her waist and nothing else. I revealed myself to her-" Sasuke sighed, "She was alarmed, but said she was leaving."

"Did she tell you anything about where she was going?"

"...No. The only information she gave me was something I can agree on." We all cocked an eyebrow at him, he smirked again. "You're all full of shit."

"WHAT?" Tsunade screeched, "You hold your tongue, young man!"

Ugh- the bastard.

...

It took me a while to realise I had just woken up and was being held by two strong arms. I didn't need to try and remember what had happened, those memories were as clear as a summers sky when I tried to open my eyes. My hands were tied behind my back, my legs tied together, my eyes covered, my mouth re-gagged. The dry fabric in my mouth sent chills through my teeth whenever I tried to talk, grumble or yawn.

If people said 'oh, this is so not real, she's so not panicking.' well, stfu. I was scared, nervous, my stomach just a tied knot being thrown around like a ball. The same questions I had previously asked where buzzing through me '_torture? Death? Rape?_'. Shit, damn, fuck. I guess Deidara was carrying me, long hair was tickling my forehead and cheek, and I heard a few little snips at Sasori, and, I think, a _Kisame_. I've heard of hmi, but I can't remember him? I know he was dangeruos, to be in the Akatsuki.

"...So our Master wants to deliver her over into the hide out?"

"Yeah, that's what I was told."

"Should we ask Konan?"

"Nah. I'm sure Master won't be upset-"

"OHMYGAWD, TOBI SEES HIS FRIENDS!" Shouted a childish voice. The sudden rise of noise made my ears ring a little and my head throb. "OHMYGAWD- TOBI IS SO HAPPY!"

"Tobi... Shut the fuck up."

I sighed. Is this really the group of 'feared' Akatsuki the Hokage taught me to fear?


	4. Family

_**Soz I took so long... I really have lost interest in Naruto- but I'm rekindling my love for this story... I have a better idea of where this is going. **_

_**I hope you're not angry with me- and I finished this in a hurry, if you can believe me...**_

* * *

It was dark, really dark. The darkness swallowed me up, the darkness didn't want to let me go. It wasn't because of a stupid blindfold, it was because I'd closed my eyes. I didn't want to open them though. Around me I heard what I dreaded, friendly chatting. It reminded me instantly of Naruto.

And Sasuke.

Ino.

Shikamaru.

My old friends.

My new enemies.

"…Ain't she pretty?"

"Tobi thinks her chest is flat."

"Yeah, well Kisame doesn't have a problem with that!"

"You pervert."

"Ha- her hair is pink!"

"You just noticed?"

"I was staring at her fucking chest-"

"Way too far, Hidan."

I groaned. When did they shut up?! Though, it wasn't like I was in pain. I kind of felt better, not unwell or in pain. I mean, there was still that painful crack in my heart, but there was no actual patched up pain in my legs or arms.

Maybe I was in hell.

"She's wakin' up! Un!"

"…Tobi's scared."

Immediately, I opened one eye and looked around. Six clueless men looked down at me, their faces right in mine. I opened my other eye and immediately jumped back. They were much scarier in real life, they were much uglier. Well, except for Sasori and Deidara. But fish face and scar head looked terrifying as they stared at me.

They were deadly.

So deadly. They raped, tortured, killed and destroyed everything that got in their way. So…

Why?

Why was I alive?

"Are … Are you going to rape me?" I whispered, fearful. Luckily I was dressed in a clean change of clothes, a mesh shirt and beige leggings- of course, I was too distracted to ask myself 'who the hell changed me?'.

The group stared at me before looking at eachother before looking back at me. All except Kakuzu and Sasori began laughing hysterically, as if it were the funniest thing they'd ever heard. Tobi was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach. Deidara was pointing at me, Kisame was clutching Hidan's shoulder in a poor effort to hold himself up.

_**WHAT THE HELL?!**_Inner growled, _**Why are they laughing at ME?! I'm… I'm totally rape-able. I'm beautiful, ne? I'm cool, ne? …These fags are just gay.**_

At this point I did something I'd never have done back in the village; I agreed with my Inner. They must be gay.

Deidara wiped his own visible eye, chuckling, "OH, you poor soul. We don't want to rape you. If we wanted to rape someone from your stupid village, it'd be that Ino bitch."

"That's wrong, fucker." Hidan laughed, "She looks exactly like you."

Deidara shrugged. "That wouldn't stop you. Un."

I glared at them, "Okay, what the hell is going on?!" First of all- WHY WAS I EVEN WITH THE STUPID AKATSUKI?!

Sasori, who'd managed to keep straight face through the whole thing (Bless his un-wooden soul), sighed, "Well, we are supposed to tell you nothing. Though, our leader said we have to bring you to him."

I nodded. "U-Uhm… by the way, who … healed me?" I stared at my arms and legs, my skin smooth and fresh.

Tobi, who was still laughing on the floor, shrieked out, "SHE THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO RAPE HER! BAHAHAHAHA!"

Deidara stepped on his head, "Shut up, you irritating Baka! Un."

Kakuzu looked at me, "Konan has been studying th practise of healing."

Hidan grinned, "Now we have two sexy nins with us."

I shot him a confused look- but Sasori whacked him down. Hidan groaned a little as his head met the concrete floor. "Ignore him." Sasori grumbled.

"Will do."

Kakuzu grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the bed, "Come on, girl. We're late to see the Master."

I nodded.

They led me down countless halls. I didn't try to escape- I don't know why. I mean, I felt weak and pathetic and tired, but it wasn't that. Countless times before with Naruto (My heart hardened), I'd fought my heart into missions and battles, even if my chakra was depleted dangerously low…

Now it was different.

Now I just didn't want to fight, because there was no use.

I was so stupid, thinking I could escape Konoha in one piece, thinking I could find a place to stay. Either way, whether the Konoha Shinobi's found me, or the Akatsuki had me, I knew I'd be executed or used as a prisoner of war.

Angrily, I looked at the group of men. God they reminded me of Konoha. I hated it. And what that Deidara said, about choosing Ino over me, it made me pissed. I knew I was beautiful, just a little flat chested. It didn't mean that Ino was better…

I was just as good.

Right?

I was so sick of being compared to her. So sick of it.

Ino this, Ino that, Ino everything.

I clenched my fists and my teeth. We arrived in a room, a dark room, and my heart exploded. Was this where I'd die? Was this where I'd be tortured for information? My face was straight and gray, showing only a scrap of fear.

I didn't care anymore. I was scared, sure, but I knew that I was really going to die either way- so I had to… I had to protect Konoha.

I mean, even if they were mean to me… I still had to protect them.

Right?

No.

No.

_That's not_ right.

I didn't have to protect them at all. What they did was their fault- and now they'd pay for it. They'd… They'd have to pay for what they did to me. They'd suffer.

I'd spill all my secrets- I'd do it to put them in danger.

I'd die happily if it came to that.

The only light that came in was from the door behind me- and that shining ray disappeared in an instant as soon as the door slammed shut. I stood there, for a few minutes, taking notice of the sounds of shifting footsteps and my own breathing. My blood rushed through me, my heart making a deep drum like sound- I felt as if everyone in this room could hear it, sense my fear.

There was no breeze- the atmosphere was rather suffocating.

I stood there, I don't know how long, waiting. Waiting for something.

Maybe death?

Or torture?

"Hello, Sakura."

The voice woke me from my daze, and I looked up in the direction. Nothing. Everything was pitch black. I'm sure there was someone there, I could sense powerful chakra waves echo in front of me.

I nodded a little, whispering a small, "Hello."

"You may be wondering why you're here- do not worry yourself, it is not for torture… rather, we want your help."

My eyes widened.

Help?

"Who's talking?" I muttered. "I tend to remain doubtful when talking to shadows." I added with a tiny voice.

A snicker came from behind me, and I twisted around in haste. But it was foolish of me- there was nothing I could see.

I was as blind as a bat.

I could only feel patterns of power- but that was useless when I didn't know who possessed them. "Please reveal yourselves!" My hand darted to my waist, trying to grip a kunai, but I realised I'd been stripped of any weapons. "…I'm confused, so please, reveal yourselves." I begged in a gentler tone.

There was a silent pause. "Your name is Sakura, right?" The person had ignored me. "It would be wise to speak to me with respect, I am, after all your new master."

"Since when?" I growled.

"Since you left your village, of course." The cold voice replied. I remained silent, and the voice carried on, "I know you've been hated by your village, abused and hurt and tortured. You left that place out of despair to stay alive, to start again."

"You interrupted my escape."

"For good reasons. You are lonely, am I right?"

I clenched my teeth, but nodded, "You are right."

"You shouldn't be anymore. Don't get me wrong, I have no wishes to be your friend, though the fools surrounding me may want to…" The voice trailed off, "You won't be lonely anymore, and I shall make you stronger, happier so you have no more fear left in your heart. You will help me, and I will help you. It's a… Win win situation, you may call it."

"What do you mean?"

"Do not act dumb. You know what you want."

_I do. I know very well what I want._

"I don't know-"

"Do not act dumb!" The voice roared, and I shrunk a little. "There is only one thing in your and my mind! Destroy that pathetic village and harbour the power of all tailed beasts! We will create a new world where there is no more pain and misery!"

"I… I don't want that."

"Don't lie, pinky. Un." I knew that was Deidara who spoke, "Master doesn't take kindly to the idiotic. You should be grateful he hasn't struck you down for your air headed comments. Yeah."

"You better take the fucking deal, bitch." Hidan laughed, "Trust me- it feels wonderful to get revenge."

"It won't hurt to prove your power… If you don't ike it we can kill you after the deed is done." Sasori.

"Or we can just kill you now." A woman's voice murmured.

I interrupted her, "I'll do it!" There was no question to it-

I wanted it.

Revenge.

The desire to kill someone who had hurt me so was so strong! My fingers dug into my palm, I felt blood dribbling down and dripping to the ground. My breathing was calm, and I muttered again, "I'll join you."

"Good."

* * *

By now, everyone who'd heard of this had come into Tsunade's office. Namely, it was all of Sakura's ex-friends. "What do we do, Lady Tsunade?" Ino questioned, her bright blue eyes straining with fear, "Without a doubt, Sakura will blab about all our information! She's dangerous… We need to kill her!"

"Troublesome woman!" Shikamaru piped up with a snarl, "Do you honestly think that is wisest? You've forgotten that you were both best friends!"

"Yeah, we used to be! Then she had to go on and be a bitch!" Ino glared.

Kiba barked, "I'll hunt her down with Akamaru." The dog gave an equally loud bark beside him.

Sasuke gave them dirty glares, and he was joined by Neji who looked at them all with a dark glower. "You idiots." The raven haired boy hissed, "You're blind!"

"Shut up, Teme!" Naruto roared, "You don't get anything."

"I get it all. You're all a bunch of shit faced ignorant bastards." Sasuke smirked- that earned him a slap by Hinata. Blood dripped from a split lip, and he stood up, angrily shoving the lilly eyed girl away. "Fuck you-"

"Leave Naruto alone!" she squeaked.

"You're an irritating girl."

Naruto grabbed her and pulled her into a loving embrace. Sasuke gave a sickened look. "Leave her alone!"

Shino stood back, "Can we stop being bias and foolish and just look for her- it is simple. She can't have gone far…"

Tsunade stood up, throwing an empty bottle at Naruto's head which shattered. "OW! WHAT THE HELL, GRANNY?!"

"Everyone, shut up!" She roared. Tsunade removed her jacket, wiping her eyes tensely, "Please- all of you, just shut up and sit down in silence… We shall look for that wretched girl as soon as we figure out a plan of where she is going."

Everyone did as they were told (Albeit stubbornly and with a strong sense of reluctance).

The door opened, and everyone's faces brightened. "That won't be a bright thing to do, my Lady."

Sasuke mumbled under his breath, "I knew I smelt something fugly."

"Hello, Karin." Tsunade smiled, "I'm sorry we didn't call you sooner… We figured you might not want to listen to this, seeing that you must be bitter about her."

Karin put her hands on her hips, leaning on one leg and shrugging, "I am mature… I can handle this. But, I don't think you want to go look for her."

"Why?" Naruto snorted, "I doubt she has the power to destroy us?"

"She may be weak, but she was taken by the Akatsuki." Karin gave a satisfied giggle. "It's funny, ne?"

Naruto chuckled, "They'll have no use for her there-"

"YOU IDIOT!" Tsunade roared, "They will get all of our secrets!"

That wiped the smirk off of his sunny face. Sasuke glared at them all. So, the Akatsuki?

His brother was there. Sakura was there. Danger was there. He sat there, a straight and calculating face. It was disgusting. All those people who had claimed to love her, they were sitting back and chuckling at the thought of her being taken or joining the infamous group. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to slap their faces.

Karin shrugged, "So what? If they come, we shall fight them- God knows we should murder that idiotic woman."

Shino's bugs immediately hummed angrily and impatiently. Sasuke noted that it only happened whenever Karin's voice reached an undeniably annoying pitch. "That is idiotic, Karin. Do you not know what happened the last time they tried to invade?"

"It was only Itachi that invaded- all he wanted was my dear Sasuke-kun!" Karin purred. She made no attempted to think about what had happened.

Sasuke remembered it clearly. It was only a few weeks after he'd returned to Konoha. His brother came there, asking for him to join. It destroyed almost the whole village to chase him away. Sasuke regretted on joining the group.

"We could barely hold our own against him. How do you think we'd fair against the whole fuckin' group?" Tsunade muttered in her brash tone. "…We are no match against them." Her voice was worn. It seemed she was thinking of her old master who had died to protect their village- and it made her think of her old teammate, Orochimaru, who had almost destroyed everything important in her life. Sakura, Sakura had been important- and now she'd gone.

It was strange- but Tsunade sort of felt a pang of guilt and regret at the thought of her being harmed. After all, she had been almost like Tsunade's non-existent daughter. "…Without a doubt, they'll use her power."

"What power?"

"Shut it, Naruto." Shikamaru snapped.

"She was my apprentice- she was taught to use her power in a deadly way. She may not be able to fight and defeat the Akatsuki, but obviously she could defeat many of our most powerful shinobi." Tsunade gave her piercing look at all of her subordinates.

"Then… what do we do?"

"We look for her, and hope that it's not too late." Tsunade whispered.

Karin stomped her foot, "NO WAY!" Angrily, she glared her cherry red eyes at them all, "Are you seriously contemplating getting her back?! After all she fucking did to us all?!"

"Karin, sit down." Shizune muttered angrily.

"No! shut up, shit head!" Karin hissed, "I've never liked you, anyway! After what you said about me…" The red headed woman teared up, "Threatening to kill me… You're so cruel, Shizune…"

Naruto slowly stood up, eyes narrowing in curiosity. "When did she say that?"

Shizune opened her mouth to protest, but Neji waved her down.

Karin pursed her lips and rubbed her eyes, "Oh… S-she said it… Four days… ago."

"When exactly, I mean?"

"Oh… IT was definitely at midnight, she woke me up and started to beat me."

Shikamaru gave a casual look, "Oh, really…? Well, to be truthful, I know for a fact Shizune was with me and Genma sensei getting hammered well into the morning."

Shizune blushed.

Ino murmured, "K-Karin… What's going on?"

Sasuke shook his head. They were finally getting it- at least, a little bit. But it was too late. The damage had been done.

Karin turned pale. "I don't know what you're talking about, Shikamaru… B-Because, it actually must have happened five days ago…"

"I was on a mission." Shizune intervened.

"…Then six days ago…"

"I was still on a mission."

"Three days."

"Had dinner with Genma."

"Two days."

"Staying late with Tsunade."

"One day."

"Training all day and night with Hiroku-chan from the hidden wood valley."

"This morning-"

"Breakfast."

"Two hours?"

"Here."

"One minute-"

Tsunade snapped, "That's it!" She pointed at the red headed girl, "Explain now-"

The red headed girl growled, "sasuke's right. You are all idiots! Idiots!" She laughed, "Are you al so dumb you can't even realise the truth? Hehe… It was easy. So easy. All I had to do was plant a few lies, you didn't even question them. You believed them so easily…" She looked at Tsunade, "…But you should be grateful."

"Greatful?" Tsunade whispered.

"Yeah- Grateful!" Karin laughed, "I got rid of that fucking pink haired bitch no only for me, but for you all! We're free from that –"

"…" Naruto stared at her, "No way…" Regret filled his eyes. "I… I … Sakrua's gone and… It's all our fault?"

"Yeah. Tiihii." Karin giggled. "Now, let's forget about her and eat some ramen."

Tsunade looked at her with a distant face. "Shizune, Ino, imprison Karin, now."

"Where?"

"In the jail underground."

Karin stared at them all, "W-Wait… What?"

They hopped to it, grabbing her hands and pulling them behind her. Shizune pulled on her limbs extra tight, "Yes, M'lady."

Naruto looked shocked, and his bright blue eyes filled with tears. "…" He sat down, eyes wide- and he covered his eyes. "What have I done?"

Sasuke stood up, a firm face and her shrugged, "I told you all. You're all full of shit." And with that, he left the silent and tense room.

He had a brother to find.


	5. Fake

Where the Akatsuki was based was pretty surprising. I hadn't really taken notice of my surroundings, but now that I really looked around, I could see it all. And it was beautiful. Well, it was no mansion, but it was quite traditional. I could tell that all the members had respect for their roots. The wood was polished, and the shoji doors were carefully manufactured. It made me feel a slight more calmness for the Akatsuki. And I did enjoy the fact it wasn't some cave that had slimy moss growing over the walls.

Surprisingly, The Akatsuki were actually quite calm and gentle, and all they wore while they rested were Yukata's for the humid climate. I was forced to wear one, along with the Geta footwear if I was forced to venture outside for more supplies.

It had been a week and a half since I joined, and there had been no training. I kind of felt like an errand girl, all I did was hunt for food with a bow and arrow (which I was getting pretty good at), I went fishing, and just ventured up to these impossible, rainy, muddy mountains to collect soaked herbs for Konan. At some point Deidara had taught me about his collection of bombs, but he was one of the few that actually sort of trusted me. Hidan, Kisame and Tobi were nice to me (Though, Hidan was more interested in sex, Kisame only taught me how to make sushi and Tobi only wanted me to draw pictures with him).

No one was really shining up to me, especially Konan. She sort of kept her distance, along with Sasori. I can't say it was unexpected, I didn't trust them. But I felt a little foolish being expected to complete the jobs they could do themselves! I mean, sure, I was younger than them, a lot younger, but I wasn't some child who would just bow down and do anything the older would want. But I knew that was a spoilt mindset- I was much better off with the Akatsuki than with Konoha. But was it stupid that I immediately expected to have been accepted as one of the Akatsuki's own teammate? I really, _really_ just wanted someone to accept me. I really wanted someone to think of me as family. But I knew it couldn't happen instantly. It was like… a new pet. They had to get used to their owner, right?

Thinking of Sasori, I didn't exactly blame him for his separate mentality; I did try to kill him… And I still wanted him dead. He was a terrifying, dangerous guy. Human or not, puppet or zombie, the guy scared me.

Yet he sent me on errands. To go chop trees down for his puppets, to carry fallen branches to wherever he was, etc. He really was pushing it sometimes, because this entire week I felt tired and battered. I really was over used. And I hated it. There hadn't been any training at all. There had been no trusted talkings or generous smiles that literally screamed '_you're one of us_'. I felt like a servant or a geisha-in-training; all the work felt pointless. But… As long as I was useful. As long as I wasn't being confined and tortured for information.

I hated the work. But I did it anyway. And I was still sick of it. "…It's only two weeks, not even. Don't rush into this, anyway, un." Deidara mumbled, sipping his tea before setting it beside him. He had brought a lump of clay with him, moulding it into some sort of shrine with one hand. "Anyway, all the errands we send for you to follow are helping, right? Un, make some more tea, this is too strong."

"How?" I snapped impatiently, sliding to a stove. I didn't mean to sound aggressive. But I was tired. Definitely, Konoha hadn't worked me out like this in a definite while!

The kitchen I occupied currently was all made of wood. With wood panels, wooden floors, wooden everything- except for the stove- The kitchen looked like some traditional doll house. The stove looked out of place though; The stone slabs on top of the metal box were achingly cold. Usually people would switch a few flicks to heat the pads up- But NO! This stove was simply a metal box with stone slabs on top and NOTHING else. I placed a stone kettle on one of the slabs, it gushed with water. I placed my hand beside the slab and used my chakra to try and heat it up- Like I said, No fire was used in the house for some idiotic reason- All we did was use chakra. If we wanted light in the house, chakra was used to create fire, if we wanted a shower, we needed to control the water, if we wanted wood to stop swelling from leaks we had to fix it with our own chakra. If we needed something to grow, guess what we used? Chakra. Maybe I was missing something achingly obvious and I was simply too stubborn to see it (Okay, obviously I was too stubborn to see it…) But it seemed stupid to me. Why not just use the natural gas? Or wood? Or normal things?

Everyone took their time upon me to get me to fix it all, and it sucked. First of all, half the stuff I had to fix I didn't know what to do (Firstly, I could barely control fire that good, Tsunade never helped me with that at all, and water was never my best…). One thing that did annoy me was Deidara and Itachi's bloody tea. Several times I had to brew more tea because I boiled the water too hot, or it was too cold- it was bloody frustrating. "…" Quietly it heated up. I paid attention to it, finding it pretty hard. But it steamed up easily- and, randomly deciding this was my LAST try, I stopped the flow of chakra and pulled the pot from the stone- I poured it blindly into the cup.

Setting it beside Deidara, he looked up at me with that single blue eye before stubbornly drinking my new brew. "…Meh." He set it down without even answering my question, but he sighed. "There's a reason why we do mostly everything with Chakra. Whether it's heating our bath water up, building extensions, chopping down trees, cooking food- it's all done with chakra for a reason. Un. I thought you were the smart one, anyway!" He snickered. "We do it to control our chakra and master all our elements. All of us have practised this successfully, and that's why we're practically the top ninja's here."

I nodded quietly. It sure was different from Lady Tsunade's training. "B-But… What about all those other stupid errands? Climbing up those mountains? Hunting?"

"All practise. Sure, it's not brute training, but come on, Pinky. Gotta start with the basics here." He winked, "You've got to admit, all your hunting trips have become easier, right? Un. Exactly. I wonder what you're ninja academy was like; honestly."

I sighed. All my Academy work had been taught in vain. While I remembered most of it; while I remembered all the Shinobi and Kunoichi rules, I knew which wild berries to avoid and which ones to rely on, I knew most of the Hidden Village customs, I really only mastered the basics. Making clones, teleporting, hiding chakra signals, controlling chakra perfectly (well, as perfect as I thought; but the Akatsuki seemed to disagree… As Deidara so said)… Naruto moved on to be one of the most powerful and courageous Shinobi I ever met (My hands clenched angrily at the thought) and he didn't even know half the stuff I memorised- and Sasuke. Well, we won't go there. And then there was Hinata. Intelligent, but not close to me, and yet she had everything; money, power, the boobs. It made me feel miserable. I was strong. Tsunade helped… I guess… But I wasn't as strong as I should have been. As I should BE.

…It did make sense, though. It made me feel a little stupid to think I was just being forced to do pointless things, but they were really helping. I sighed, absently sitting beside him. Maybe my thoughts were wrong. The Akatsuki was helping. They were certainly doing better than Konoha had done. I found that with Lady Tsunade, she had lacked any missions or training sessions I could really struggle at (this was before she stopped acknowledging my presence). She'd throw the same things at me. She'd make me work with dead fish and send me to file papers. FILE PAPERS- A kunoichi learning under the HOKAGE shouldn't do that. It made my cheeks go red. I felt like a total idiot depending on that drunk… A nostalgic feeling broke out in my heart, and I felt a little guilty. But then I remember what they made me go through, and I shook my head. "Hey, Deidara…" I murmured.

He hummed. "Un?"

"…Anymore trainin' for me?" I giggled, feeling a little guilty. I felt a little bad losing my cool at him; he was right. All he'd done was help me. I could say I was ungrateful, and it was idiotic and mean to say he didn't save me at all. Though, I can't say for sure if it was a good thing he invited me into the Akatsuki; maybe we'd all be assassinated for treason. Maybe I'd have to face Konohagakure or Sunagakure ninja (my mind flickered to my old team, but I stomped it away. Screw them.). …I can't say how I'd really feel facing them, but hypothetically I feel like I can tear anyone limb from limb with all the anger I held.

Over the week, I'd released the hatred. And Hidan, when he wasn't trying to sneak me into bed, told me it was okay to embrace it. So I hated them. I hated Konoha. I hated them so much.

Deidara grinned, "I think I can create a few…"

I guess I'd created a little crush for him. He was cute. And he was handsome. And he was just adorable. I really liked him. And he liked to flirt back. I really did think he was amazingly kind- Deidara was just... Cool. I mean, at first I hated him. He was an asshole. I mean, when I first met him, he was an ass hole- well, he still was an asshole when he wanted to be, but he was cheeky, and I liked that. But the thing I hated about him... Was that... He reminded me of Ino. And Naruto. And it hurt. Half the time I felt like slapping him, but then I had to remind myself he was helping me become stronger to destroy Konoha. Though- I knew that wasn't the case. As much as I wanted to believe we were going to ruin the village that had created so much heart break, they never really showed any inclination on vengeance or hatred, not that I ever brought it up. But when they inquired about my life back in Konoha (surprisingly, they hadn't asked for any personal information about Tsunade or anything like that... Wonder why?) they seemed quite pleasant about my happy stories; whereas they made me feel quite nostalgic and sad.

Konan entered the room, quiet as a butterfly. She looked the part, too. "…You should know that the master wants us."

And she breezed away. Just like that.

I stared at Deidara, "Where do we go?"

For the past week I hadn't seen Pein at all. I had no idea where he was at all- well, that's a lie. I knew he was cooped up in his room, I didn't know what he was doing though. It creeped me out and always made me regret joining the Akatsuki. But I decided he was a lot better than the drunken Tsunade. Deidara stood up easily, placing his tea on the low standing table. He helped me up, leading me out into a hallway where Hidan slouched and stumbled down as well.

We entered this dark room, the same I'd gone through the first day I joined them. It was cold and unfeeling, and no one could see a thing. I could sense the Chakra, though; all chakra signals were wild and strong and flaring wildly, it was amazing; they were so powerful. I stepped inside the dark room, completely trusting the life forms around me. Deidara breezed a hand over my knuckles in reassurance.

We all settled down as soon as a cold, quiet and dangerous voice called out. "Good evening, Akatsuki members. I trust all of you are feeling well and rested." There was no reply, "I have come forth to speak about an important matter. We are to have another member meet us tonight." A few disgruntled groans rippled through the pact of humans. My ears went red; is this how they felt when I was introduced as a new member?

"Who is it?" Hidan grunted.

The voice replied coldly, "Do not speak unless spoken to. …This new member is yet to be collected. He is unaware of this, also. Yet, he shall agree with this, just as Haruno had," Out of instinct, my eyes widened and I looked up, but saw nothing. "Itachi, you are aware of his location, are you not?"

"I have sleepers watching him as we speak."

"You must feel anticipation?"

"Quite so."

I had no idea who he was speaking about- was it Naruto? My shoulders slumped. I really had to stop thinking about him. It was driving me into fatigue and worry. It was probably some stranger I didn't know- but it didn't stop me from worrying. Who was it? Praying to Kami, I hoped it wasn't Karin. Or Ino. I gagged, thinking it might be Hinata. "Itachi, you shall collect him with the help of Haruno. I figure she is useful enough and can gain the experience." I felt happy at the sound of that.

I piped up when I could, "…Excuse me, but who are we 'collecting'?"

He answered me impatiently, "Someone you know very well, Haruno."

Itachi murmured quietly to halt my curiosity. "…It's Sasuke, Sakura. He's left Konoha."

* * *

I sat on the branch of this tree, eating a bun. I was waiting. Yes, yes, the impatient Uchiha was waiting on a branch at the edge of the Country of Fire. It had taken me a while to reach this far, it almost made me embarrassed. And it made me realise that I'd slacked in my skills since coming back to Konoha. It was a relief I'd left that group of drunken idiots; I found myself feeling weak. Orochimaru (as much as I hated to admit it…) had done a much better job. But I still hated the slimy bastard. I knew who I was waiting for.

The Akatsuki.

They were going to find me or I'd find them. They'd do it whether they liked it or not- and I definitely didn't like it. I didn't want to see the bloody Akatsuki. But I needed their help (again, I hated admitting it) if I wanted to take down Konoha. There was nothing very wrong with the village now- but it was just going to get worse. The way Tsunade was running the place; it would be defeated by any rival Hidden village. But I had a feeling something bigger was going on. And it just seemed … weird. I didn't like admitting it, but I felt something was going to happen.

Something bad.

Karin was the finger- and Sakura was the first domino to fall.

I moodily ate into one of my tomatoes, glaring at the ground. They were taking a while. They certainly did like having spies watch me. They were all around me- just watching. It was idiotic and creepy. And stupid. If they just wanted me- all they had to do was look for me. I knew where to look, in the Land of Rivers where it was no secret that the Akatsuki had their hideout. But I felt maybe it was the wrong way to go- I felt like I should have been aiming towards the Rain Country. I decided it was safer to wait for a while.

But for how long? I knew Naruto would try and look for me; the damned idiot. And when I said Idiot, I didn't mean it as a term of endearment, I really felt he was an idiot. He had been so idiotic to trust Karin over Sakura- it really made me wonder what was in his head? Why would he trust Karin, who he barely knew, over Sakura? I shook my head. Baka. That blonde haired idiot didn't know how big a hole he'd dug.

I felt like I should have torn him away from Konoha- you know, told him that place wasn't any good. He had saved me, after all (it's har to admit it.). But he was stubborn; would he believe me when I said Karin wasn't the only thing ruining the village?

The village was insane anyway, there was no way I'd return.

I stared down at a raven haired male who sat sleepily against a tree trunk, biting into a tomato and wearily closing his eyes.

And then.

Poof!

It disappeared into thin air as a kunai buried itself into the tree trunk. I smirked. It's show time. "I know you're there, Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

She was in the middle of the field, just below me. She couldn't find me. Same usual Sakura- loud and brutish. It was a pity. I didn't mean to sound rude, I was just being truthful. Though- I must say, she'd shielded her chakra signal, I hadn't felt her coming at all- I commenced her strength. She had done it well enough before this all began, but she was always confident enough to let it slip. She matured. I swung down and landed right in front of her- she fell back to the ground, letting out a surprised shriek. "Smooth."

"Tch." She hissed at me. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Waiting. What of you?"

Her face went red with impatience. I think she was just embarrassed that I'd surprised her. It wasn't like I kicked her out of the village. "…Looking for you."

"You mean the Akatsuki just sent you?" I gave a mocking glance at her. It was merely to agitate her; it was fun watching her squirm, like we were twelve again. "They must have sent someone else." Though, I knew it wasn't good to make fun of her. She was strong. Sure, really strong. But not as strong as me. And not strong enough that I should have feared her. But in my eyes, she was still that annoying pipsqueak girl wishing to kiss me. But Tsunade had said she was strong; it puzzled me. Maybe Sakura just lacked the confidence to really shine. Ugh- it sounded corny, did it not?

She stared at me for a moment, angry with her lips pursed. "I'm not alone. "

"So…" I looked around, at the spies that were coming into view. "You went with these people?"

"No!"

"Who then?"

My stomach churned.

I don't know why.

"Little brother. My, you've grown, have you not?"

Now I know.

I glared at the ground. This was what I regretted; this was what made me uneasy. I liked to think everything wasn't great with the thought of my brother, but they weren't awful. But I was afraid of seeing him. I was afraid of accepting him again and then him betraying me. Yes- Sasuke was afraid. Sasuke felt like that little boy trembling over his dead parents bodies all those years ago. But I squared my jaws. If Sakura could face them all, then I could too. If she could survive a week with them- I could survive more. I would prove to not be weak. And I had to face the Akatsuki. I had to tell Sakura the village realised their mistakes, but something was going on. Something bad had to be going on.

I turned around- a vaguely familiar chakra signal bursting. It was Itachi. As usual, my brother looked beautiful with his horrifying glare and his stoic face. He had a dark smirk on his face- but I wasn't stupid enough to believe it was just cold and unemotional; he stared at me with hidden warmth. And he wouldn't show it. At least, not in front of me and not in front of anyone else. "Hello, Itachi." I gave a small nod of my head.

"I hope we didn't make you wait too long. You see, we've had to travel a distance."

Sakura helped herself up, standing beside Itachi. I noticed she didn't wear her Konoha head band anymore- it was replaced by a simple blue bandana. And she had a cloak fastened around her waist. It was the Akatsuki cloak. I noticed these things sticking out immediately. She'd changed. And in a week, she looked pretty mature- but still meek, still undecided and unconfident and a bit damned nervous. So. the Akatsuki really did accept her. They helped her. Excellent.

"I figured."

Itachi nodded quietly, "Well, brother, we really must get going. There is much to discuss, much that we can't discuss here..." His red eyes darted over to the spies that looked quite emotionless as they stood still and in plain sight. "Sakura, I trust you can take them out." The spies jolted a little. Their stoic faces shifting a little in discomfort. I didn't understand how they could accept death. I gave a revolted glare at Itachi.

"Well, what else would you have us do? They were criminals on death row anyway, they would just rape, kill and pillage if we left them to their own devices. Would you rather that? Not only so, but they haven't pledged allegiance to us; and it is quite plain to know that a few of them are feeding our information to..." Itachi gave a pleasantly fake smile, placing a finger on his lips, "Well, I shan't tell, it wouldn't be wise to spoil any surprises."

Sakura swallowed a little. She seemed effected at the thought of Konoha. I didn't blame her. "...Well, then I guess we should start going off." I mumbled. Itachi gave that same fake smile, holding out a gloved hand. I stood before him, grabbing hold of it. We took off.

And Sakura stayed behind.

* * *

"What the fuck did you do?" Tsunade growled at Karin. The room was dark, grimy and cold, with a small draft that proved inconvenient to most of the restrained criminals. The wooden bars were reinforced with chakra, unbreakable to most of the ninja's- Tsunade made sure of that. The blonde woman was planted in front of one of the wooden cages, a Zashikirou, where a red headed girl laid chained. "Why the fuck did you do all of this?" The woman was sobre, something that helped irritate her, and she was more than pissed with the situation. Karin had created a mess, and Tsunade ahd fallen straight into it. The slip up had ruined the Villages security. She could only guess what could happen. The Akatsuki would get all their information from Sakura, they could use her or just kill her and take Konoha for Naruto.

The cherry eyed girl swallowed. "…I wanted …-"

"You can't say Sasuke. Don't tell me you risked our national security for that son of a bitch!"

"But I just love him!"

Tsunade threw her head away from Karin, covering her eyes in utter shame. How could she have believed such a poisonous girl?! "So you caused all this trouble for Sasuke?"

"…" Karin didn't answer for aminute before Tsunade turned to face her aggressively. "Yes! B-But…"

Tsunade didn't listen to her, "You've destroyed a life and you've put our village in a dire situation." Her teeth ground together before she spoke again, "Do you know what I've had to do since last week? I've put more Anbu around the gate, I've had to stop villagers from wondering in or out- I can't send anyone out for missions! I can't do any of this until we find Sakura." She was about to say 'And Sasuke', but she decided she wouldn't do it. Because Karin didn't know; she thought he was being restrained from visiting her. She was delusional, Tsunade decided. "I can't do anything because she knows information on this village. And seeing where we put her in our lives, she probably holds enough hatred to ruin us."

Karin swallowed, "I – I …"

"Do you know what the punishment for this is? Do you know what you did? Treason!"

"…But…"

"The punishment is death!" Tsunade snapped angrily, "And we'll leave you hanging in the middle of the village to show we don't tolerate traitors!" Karin froze, her breathing quickening.

She clutched the bars, " Look- Look, I didn't want any of this to happen I just wanted her gone! Look- I'll tell you anything you want! Fuck, I'll do anything." Tears entered her eyes. Tsunade looked away. She wouldn't pity the damned girl. No- she wouldn't pity a traitor. How had she not seen this coming?! "Don't kill me!"

"So now you regret it all?!" Tsunade barked. " Just because you're life is at risk, you now want to help? Lemme tell you something, Princess. You're a little too late for that-"

Karin let out a teary shriek, "It wasn't just me!"

Tsunade's eyes widened. She paused. "What?"

"…It wasn't me. I mean- it was. But I was… I was just a pawn."

The blonde woman's stomach went cold. Somebody planned this? Somebody wanted this to happen? She stood up, shakily. "Dammit…" She looked around, "Damn it… Damn …" Now. This scared her. This made her frightened. This made her paranoid. "…Tell me who, Karin."

"…I can't."

"Fucking hell, Tell me who!"

"I can't! I can't! They'll kill me!" She was crying just as heavily as Tsunade felt like sobbing. This made the busty woman swallow uneasily. She had to calm down. _Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm. It will do no good getting worked up… Damn it… DAMN IT!_

She was just about to slam the doors open and drag the cherry haired girl out and slash her throat in anger- but she restrained herself. "Karin… I'll make sure you're safe. Just tell me. Who. Is. Up. To. This." Tsunade rubbed her eyes. "WHO DID THIS?!" The walls shook and the soggy wood under her sandals vibrated. Karin cried.

She didn't plan on telling any time soon. She was frightened. Tsunade gave a glare and face at the frightened woman and barked at the guards by the main door, "Get Kiba and Akamaru over here right now! Tell them to guard Karin, make sure nothing happens. Tighten security around here right now!"

They both nodded firmly, and only one disappeared while one stood straight, "I'll wait while he goes in search for Inuzuka."

Tsunade nodded, "Thank you." And she left the prison, casting a glance at Karin who was covering her eyes in terror. Quietly, she arrived back to her own office, deep in thought. Who could it have been? Who could have chosen Karin? It must've been the Akatsuki themselves. Irritated, she slammed her hands on her desk, cracking the wood. "Fuck!" She needed a drink- but as she stalked over to the window overlooking her beloved village, she began to tear up. How had she allowed this to happen? She'd over indulged in the peace of knowing her village was the top village known for their excellence and strength. …But now… Watching the Shinobi roam around… She'd definitely let them fall. And it was her fault. It was all her fault. She was a failure.

Her family would've been ashamed.

And now… Sasuke was gone. The Uchiha prodigy; the one who could've saved this village was gone. And Sakura, too. The woman who was like her daughter. How could she have done this?! Tsunade turned away, back to her cracked fence. And she sat down, grabbing a fountain pen and a piece of yellowed paper. She had business to prepare.

_Kazekage, _

_It is with deep regret that I call on to you for assistance. Something grave has occurred, and while the details are still imprecise, I cannot risk any laziness to follow through. _

_A week ago, a fellow Kunoichi whom I held unfathomable trust in disappeared. Her name was Sakura Haruno, you may or may not remember her. I have received Intel she has been located and collected by the S-ranked Criminal Organisation Akatsuki. I am fearing our information may be leaked. _

_Not only Haruno, but Sasuke Uchiha has also left in search for the Akatsuki for unknown reasons. I can only guess he desires to be reunited with his older brother, for what reason is indefinite. _

_And by unluckiness, it has come to my attention that someone has organised and orchestrated this to happen- the criminal is unclear, and I am tied up defending the village for any threat that might arise. I desire a conference or extra defense- please understand that I can not risk facing this as a simple prank or a C-rated shinobi attack. If the Akatsuki are involved, I need help. Gaara, this wounds my pride so- but you are my closest ally as of now, and I need your assistance. _

_With many thanks,__  
__Tsunade, Hokage._

Tsunade stamped the letter with the official Konohagakure stamp, and folded it tightly into an envelope. "Shizune!"

The timid, black haired woman stepped inside, "Yes, M'lady?"

"…Get Kakashi and Iruke over here." Tsunade couldn't trust sending it by carrier pigeon, it could be taken by enemies. Kakashi was someone she trusted, and someone who she knew could get the job done. She'd have to send Iruka with him as well; Iruka was a close friend to Kakashi and a strong Shinobi who could (Without doubt) keep a good eye on him and the letter and any enemies. Iruka didn't have anything much to do anyway- the Shinobi and Kunoichi school had been opened only for two days a week; they needed most of the teachers to be ready for any attack. And the teachers had been organising civilian assistance.

Shizune perked, "Is something wrong, M'lady?"

"Just get them. NOW!"

It took only a while for Kakashi and Iruka to arrive. "This is sudden, I know. But I have a letter for you to deliver to Sunagakure for the Gaara. This is an important letter. I trust you two to quickly get over there. We need the Kazekage to send over Temari or his brother as an ambassador and a few troops to support us. But if they do not want to help…" _May Kami save us all?_ Tsunade pursed her lips. "If they do not want to help us, then debate with him."

Kakashi cast a confused eye. He didn't know what was going on- and it was better to keep it that way. He didn't question me- and Neither did Iruka.

"Yes, M'lady. We shall set off immediately." They disappeared with a 'poof'.

…After this, Tsunade swore she was going to retire.


End file.
